Machine for preparing welts.



A. EPPLER.

MACHINE FOR PREPARING WBLTS. APPLICATION FILED JULY 20, 1906.

1,026,306, Patented May 14, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Witnesses:

Wm M wwzz A. BPPLER. MACHINE FOR PREPARING WELTS.-

PPLIOATION FILED JULY 20,1908.

1,026,306. Patented May 14, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET W M M m 61M Val-z A. EPPLER.

MACHINE FOR PREPARING WELTS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20, 1906.

1,026,306. Patented May 14, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

\ 054% W. W a5 zawqm/l A. EPPLER;

MACHINE FOR PREPARING WELTS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20, 1906.

Patented MW, 1912.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE:

ANDREW EPPLER. 0F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR PREPAR ING WELTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 20,

Patented May 14, 1912. 1906. Serial No. 326,970.

T 0 all 11-71 am it may concern:

Be it knownthat'l. Axmnaw Errnnu, a citizen of the United States. residin at Boston. in the county of Suffolk and btate of Massachusetts. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Preparing \Velts: and I do hereby declare the following to be a full. clear. and exact description of the invention. such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to machines for preparing welts which are used in the manufacture of welted shoes. I

The welt of a welted shoe consists of a long and narrow strip of leather which is sewed to the upper and insole of the shoe and serves as a means for connecting the outsole to the other portions of the shoe. To enable this strip of leather to he readily applied to the insole and upper. it is usually provided with a bevel upon its upper surface at its inner edge and with a groove upon its under surface near its inner edge. The welt strip is also sometimes provided with transverse cuts or slashes upon its under surface extending across the portion of the strip between the groove and the outer edge. the purpose of these slits being to render the welt flexible and permit it to be more easily beaten out flat after attachment to the shoe.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine for slashing a welt strip.

'ith the above object in view the present invention consists in animproved welt slashing mechanism. in a feeding mechanism which is combined with the welt slashing mechanism, and in certain devices. combinations and arrangement of'parts tending to improve the constructionalul mode of operation of machines for preparing welts, the advantages of which will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

The various features of the present invention will be clearly understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawings in which are illustrated a machine for preparing welt strips embodying the same in their preferred form.

Figure l is a view in side elevation of the machine for grooving, beveling and slashing a welt. view of the machine illustrated in F ig. 1 taken on the line u -w of said figure. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line y-g of'Fig. 2 but showing the welt beveling cutter in elevation. Fig. 4 is-a plan view of the machine. Fig. 5 is a longitudi- 'nal sectional view taken 011 the line t -a of F i'g. 2. F 6 is a detail perspective view of the welt grooving cutter detached from the machine.

the w'elt is guided and supported while being acted upon by the welt grooving. beveling and slashing knives. by means. of a bed plate 1 secured to the base of the machine, a guiding flange 2 at the inner edge of the bed plate 1 arranged to engage the inner edge of the welt. an'edgc guide 3 adjustably secured to the base plate 1 so as to be caflange 2. and armnged to engage the outer edge of. the welt. and a presser foot 4 arranged to bear upon the surface of the welt which is uppermost in pas-dug through the machine. The prcsser tt'oot -l is secured to a vertical slide 5 by means of a screw 6 passing .through the presser foot into the lower end of the slide and by means of a screw? passing through an upwardly extending portion of the pre-ser foot into the side of the slide. The slide 5 is acted upon by a coiled pring 8 connected at its lower end to a fixed standard 9 secured to the base plate of the machine and at its upper end to a pin 10 mounted in the upper end of the slide 5, the tendency of the spring being to depress the slide and hold the presser foot in contact with the welt. ciprocate in the standard 9 and is provided with a lifting lever 11 pivotally mounted upon the stud 10 and havingat one end a cam surface arranged to bear against the upper portion of the standard 9. By means of this lever the slide 5 and presserfoot 4 can be raised by the operator to enable the welt strip to be inserted in the nnichine.

The welt passes through th machine with the surface which is uppernn in the completed shoe resting upon the base plate 1 and the grooving knife is accordingly arranged to act upon the surface of the welt which is uppermost in the machine. The

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional In the machine illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 pable of adjustment toward and from the The slide 5 is mounted to re-v grooving knife is indicated at 12, and in order that the groove formed by the knife may be of the same depth regardless of variations in the thickness of the welt, it is mounted upon the slide sol/as to move upand down with the presser foot. 'The shape of the knife is best illustrated in-Fig. 6 in which it-will-be seen that the knife blade is curved in the are of a circle and is formed upon. the periphery of a fiat'd-isk, the disk being provided with a notch, and the blade of the lmife extending nearly around the disk. To permit the grooving knife to'be secured to the slide 5, it is provided with a 16. The block 15 is'secured. to the slide 5 by means of a screw 17 passing through a "vertical slot in the block and screwing into .the lowerportion'of the slide. This con:

. structlon permits the block 15 to be adjusted "vertically .so'

that the grooving knife can be caused to make a groove in desired depth. As a convenient means for i is provided,

adjusting the block '15, an'adjusting rod 18 having a swivel connection at its lower 'end with the block '15,,a-nd at its i knife into the required becomesworn away in regrlndupper-end having a screw-threaded engagement with the slide 5. The upperend of the rod 18 extends above the slide 5 into a convenient position to be manipulated by the operator-. I j

For convenience of manufacture theslide 5 is preferably cylindrical, and in order to hold the slide against rotation a rib 19 is secured to the standard '9 bymeans of a screw 20 andis arrangedto engage a vertical slot formed in the slide.

In addition to a vertical adjustment, the grooving knife is capable of ahrotary adjustment to bring the cutting edge of the position as the blade of the knife.

fling and is also capable of a lateral adjustbladedirectly back of the cutting ed ge exment to vary the distance of the groove from the edge of the welt. Since the blade of the 'knife is arranged in the arc of a circle a m tary adjustment of the knife does not necess'itate a change in either the vertical or the lateral adjustment. Also the arrangement of the blade of the grooving knife in the arc vof a circle permits the use of a long knife blade which can be used for. a considerable length of time before the blade becomes so worn away as to require the substitution of a new knife. Also the arrangement of the blade of theg'rooving knife in the arc of a circle permits the knife to be so placed in the vmachine that the portion of the knife tends in the direction: in which the weltstrip is ed, the cut surface of the strip being fnn 'niifll tn the ernnve of the knife blade.

the welt of any 29 the welt is supported The knife blade. thus cuts to the best possible advantage and the chip or strip removed by the knife passes easily over the upper surface of the blade.

The welt beveling knife is indicated at 21 and consists of a fiat disk cut away asindicated vin Fig. 3 to provide a cutting edge 22 extending from the periphery "of the disk inwardly. The disk is mounted in the machine. by means of a stud projecting laterally from the center of the disk and entering a split clamp 23 in which it is held by means of a clamp screw 24. This construction permits a rotary adjustment of the disk to bring the cutting edge 22 into the desired position as the edge becomes worn away in regrinding, and the shape of the knife permits the knife to be reground a great many times before it becomes worn out. The clamping block 23 forms a part of a block 25, which is mounted upon a block 26, so as to be'capable of an angular adjustment to change the angle of the bevel produced by the knife 21 on the welt strip. The block 25 isprovided with a curved rib which enters a curved slot in the block 26, and the rib and slot are substantially concentric with the point of operation of the knife on the welt, so-that an angular adjustment of the block 25' produces no substantial displacement of the knife wit-h relation to the welt.

The block 25 is held in adjusted position by means of a clamping screw' 27 passing through a slot in the block 25 and screwed. into the block 26. To vary the depth of the cut produced by the knife 21, means are provided for adjusting the block 26 horizontally. This means, as shown, consists of an adjusting screw 27 mounted on the standard 9,- and having a screw-threaded engagement with the block 26. Clamping screws 28 passingthrou-ghslots in the bloc t 26 and screwing into the standard 9 serve to hold the block 26 in adjusted position.

The welt slashing knife is indicated at 29 and is clamped in the lower end of one arm of a bent lever 30 pivotally mouited at 31 upon the standard 9. The lever 30 is arranged to oscillate in a vertical plane above the welt, and at each oscillation the knife 29 cuts a transverse slit in the welt, extending across that portion betw sen the groove and the outer edge of the welt, these slits being obliquely disposed with relation to the surface of the welt, as indicated in Fig.

action of the knife. by the bed plate 1, and is firmly held thereon by the presser foot 4, which extends over the bed plate 1 into proximity to .the path of movement of the knife 29. Tooscillate the lever 30 an eccentric on the main driving shaft 32- is provided, which is connected by ail-eccentric strap and link 33 to the short arm of the bent lever-30.

1. During the cutting In the machine illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5. a. power ope-rated feeding mechanism is provided. which acts to impart a continuous feeding movement to the welt strip. This feeding mechanism con'lprises a power driven feeding roll .34. and a spring pressed pressure roller 35, between which rolls the well strip passes and by which the strip is pulled through the machine against the action of the rooving bevelin and'slashin knives.

b i 7 h k The roll' 34 is driven from the main driving shaft 32 through gearing which clearlv shown in Figs. 3 and -'l-, and thisgearing is so proportioned that the slits which are formed in the welt by the knife 99 are spaced the desired distances apart. lt will he noted that the path of movement: of the knife 29 is such that the continuous feeding of the Welt strip is not interfered with, the knife being so actuated that it moves substantially in the direction of feed while making 'its retracti jl'g stroke, and substantially in the opposite direction while making its cutting stroke." The knife thus cooperates with the feed 'in fimaking the slits in the welt and movesout of engagement with the welt-between successive cuts without "interfering with the forward movement of the welt. The, pressure roll is. mounted to rotate freely in one end of a lever -36 pivotallv mounted at 37. The other end of the lever 36 is acted upon by a coiled spring 38 by means of which the roll is pressed yieldingly toward the roll 34.

To enable the machine to be thrown into and out of operation the belt pulley 3.) is mounted to rotate looselv and move long tudinall on the main driving shaft. and is providec with a clutch member 4-0 adapted to' engage a clutch member a l fixed on the driving shaft. An arm 42. secured to one end of a shipper rod 43, engages the hub of the pulley 3t), and the shipper rod 43 is provided With a handle it. bymeans of which the shipper rol can be actuated by the operator to move the driving pullc 39 and the clutch member toward and trom the clutch member l-l.

It is to be undm-stood that the construetions and arrangement of parts illustrated in the drawings and above described embody the various features of the present invention in their preferred form only and that except as defined in the claims the invention is not limited thereto.

I claim 1. A machine for preparing wells. having; in (:(nnl')in'ation. means for supporting and guiding; a welt strip. means for continuously extending partially thr igh the strip, and means for moving the k ife in the direction of the feed While making its retracting strqke and "in the opposite direction while n'iaking its cutting stroke.

' 3. A machine for preparing wells. ha ving in combination. means for supporting and guiding a welt strip. means for continuously feeding the strip. a vibrating slitting kni't'e arranged to form transverse slits in the strip extending partially through the thickness of the strip and partially across the width of the strip, and means for actuating the knife.

4. A machine for preparing wells. having.

in combination. means for supporting and guiding a welt strip. means tor continuously feeding the strip. a welt slitting knil'c arranged to form transverse slits in the strip extending partially through the thickne s of the strip. and means for oscillating the knife 'in a path obliqnclvdisposed with relation to thc surface ol'. the strip and extending from the strip in the direction of the feed.

5. A machine for preparing wells. having. in combination. means for supporting and guiding-a welt strip. welt grooving and hcveling knives. a welt slitting kni'le arranged to form transverse slits in thc welt cxlclnlin;

partiall through the thickness ol the welt. and means for continuously feeding the well strip to the knives.

6. A machine for preparing welts. having in combinatitm. means for supporting and guiding the welt strip. means for continuously feeding the strip. wclt grooving and beveling knives. a welt litting'knit'c arranged to form transverse slits in the trip extemling partially through thc ship and means for moving the knife in the direction of the feed while llhl lilllfi'llfs rctractinzr stroke and in the opposite direction rhilc making its cutting stroke.

Tn testimony whereof I alli'x n| v lg'llature, in presence of two witnesses.

ANDlllHV lClPl'dER.

Witnesses:

FRED O. Flsn, ALFRED H. I-IInnm-rrn. 

